Despite, the frequent closure of schools, after every unfortunate and untoward violence related incident, which usually happen in valley , Kashmir is the state where the schools remain closed during winter vacations for a longer period as compared to other states due to severe chill and heavy-snow fall.
In winter zone of Jammu and Kashmir, usually, the schools and colleges get closed in the month of December and reopen in the month of March every year. We have an experience that some times, due to heavy snowfalls and unending bad weather conditions, government had extended winter vacations up to the Mid-March. So the winter season in Kashmir which is good for Kashmiries, when looking from agricultural point of view, put the students away from schools for a very long period. This year the season was not so bad during the winter months, so the arrangements for reopening of schools were in full pace even from the last week of February. Teachers were asked to resume their duties from February 26, to make all necessary arrangements for their students who were asked to attend schools from March 5th. Teachers were asked by higher authorties of the department to celebrate first day in the schools as a welcome day for children, to keep students in a happy mood at the very first day in the schools after the vacations.
The parents also had arranged all needs like new uniform, bags, and other requirements for their children to start their new academic session well , after a long break of three months. The parents got the hair cutts of their school going children, made them cut their nails and so on, to keep them all set to begin a new and pleasant schooling session in the spring. Although, mostly the students prefer to be at home to enjoy vacations than to remain bound in schools. But when it comes to long winter vacations in Kashmir, the students like to come out of their warm rooms in March and happily enjoy a new and pleasent school season.So like their parents, the students too were curious to meet their classmate friends after a long winter gap , to have a fun with them. They were eagerly waiting for new and pleasent schooling season. But there is a good saying ” man proposes and God disposes” the same happened practically.
To celebrate the welcome day remained yet to be celebrated. However, it again reminded us back to the unfortunate plight and apathy of Kashmiries, that when all the preparations for reopening of schools were in a final touch, suddenly a bad and heart wrenching news of killing of several innocents by security persons in district Shopian came to surface. All those happy and curious hopes to enjoy first day in schools, turned into the mournful moment of grief and sorrow for all the students and the teachers. As it was their compulsion to avoid the protests, the government immediately extended the winter break for some more days, not due to the heavy snow fall which often becomes the reason for extension of winter break, but this time it was due to heavy blood bath of innocent civilians in Shopian.
The government had to announce extension in winter break to avoid the protests by students. Which were expected to take place in solidarity with bereaved and to raise voice against human rights violation. As, the well beginning is half done, this beginning of students for new session turned to be unwell, when the schools couldn’t reopen in a peaceful atmosphere. So this kind of situation definitely turns a bad impression on the minds of our students.
This is just an example that how, like every sector in Kashmir, the education sector also suffers due to unending violence. It is a route thing that whenever such kinds of episodes do happen here, the first announcement which comes through media is ” schools will remain closed to maintain law and order and to avoid any untoward incident”. Every year such types of incidents do happen here hundreds of times. Every time the first sufferer is the student.
The academic session was worstly suffered in the year 2016, during “Burhan Episode”, when hundreds of children were killed during protests. With the result of that episode the schools remained closed for almost seven month’s including three month’s winter break. Later, the government took a decision to give mass promotion to students up to class eighth ” to promote them to next higher class without examination”. Before that a mass promotion to students was also given in 2014 after a natural calamity of floods hit the valley and became the cause for closure of schools.
However, from a couple of years, government took a decision to start winter tuitions which are offered by education department free of cost. It was the Ex-Education Minister Nayeem AKhter who gave the nod to this idea. But this winter tuitioning has not proved the remedial measure to overcome the loopholes created due to frequently closure of schools during untoward incidents , because students in Kashmir already used to go for private winter tuitioning during winter months. The only benefit which students availed from government established tuition centres was the saving of tuition fees, as government provided it free of cost. But this was a good step for those poor students, whose parents could hardly pay tuition fees for their children.
Since decades, these atrocities and human rights violations always happen in Kashmir and every time an uproar in the form of protests is followed by it mostly by the students , the young generation. Subsequently the government immediately closes the schools in order to maintain law and order. There is a definite capability of a student to learn and remember. They can not be able to acquire excessive lessons at a time, means a teacher can’t teach a student the content supposed to teach in two days. So loopholes remain unfilled. Now the question is, what kind of remedial measure can prove to overcome the academic deficiencies?, which result due to missing of precious school working days in a usual manner in the valley.
(The author writes on issues concerning education in Kashmir. His views are personal)
